Tubing clip



Oct 3, 1967 J. H. HOHENBERGER- 3,345,095

TUBING CLIP Filed oct. 22, 1965 INVENTOR L/o//A/ H Ho//ffvfisf BY/M 19%, am

v ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,345,095 TUBING CLIP John H. Hohenberger, Williamstown, Mass., asslgnor to Norton Company, Troy, N.Y., a corporation of Massachnsetts Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,566 14 Claims. (Cl. 287-127) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE For forming a butt joint between ends of adjacent, axially aligned tubing sections, a tubing clip comprismg: a strip of stifily resilient material having a port1on adjacent at least one end thereof doubled back at a bend, toward the transverse centerline of the strip; and a short segment of said portion adjacent said end canted obliquely so that it forms an acute angle with the strip 1n the region of the strip adjacent the transverse centerline of the strip and between said bend and said centerline, and so that it projects further from said strip region 1n the thickness sense of the clip as said short segment proceeds toward said centerline; said strip in said region being oil?- set in said thickness sense between said centerline and said bend, the offset being accomplished by a process1on of the orientation of the strip in said region lirst substantially parallel to the doubed back portion, then obliquely toward the doubled back portion and then substannally parallel to the doubled back portion as said strip region proceeds from said centerline toward said bend. The tubing clip also includes a second portion adjacent the opposite end of said strip from said rst end doubled back at a second bend toward the transverse centerline of the strip; and second a short segment of said second portion adjacent said opposite end canted obliquely so that- 1t forms an acute angle with the strip in a second region of the strip adjacent the transverse centerline of the str1p and between said second bend and said centerline so that lit projects further from said strip second region in the thickness sense of the clip as said second short segment proceeds toward said centerline. The tubing clip is frictionally received in the bores of the tubing sect1ons through the adjacent ends so that about half of the tubmg clip is in each bore.

The foregoing abstract is not intended to `be a cornprehensive discussion of all Iof the principles, possible modes or applications of the inventi-on disclosed 1n this document and should not be used to interpret the scope of the claims which appear at the end of this specification.

The present invention -relates to connectors and more 'particularly to means receivable within tubing bores for forming butt joints between ends of tubing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In certain instances, resilient tubing, for example tubing composed of rubber or synthetic thermoplastic mate- 'rial, is used as skeletal members for building displays, Awork supports and forms and for similar uses which do SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has a primary object the provivsion of means for forming a butt joint between tubing ends 3,345,095 Patented Oct. 3, 1967 ICC that is highly resistant to pulling apart and is located entirely within the tubing bore. For this -reason the present invention relates primarily, but not essentially, to instances where the tubing is not being used as a conduit.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for forming a butt joint between opposite ends of the same length of tubing in order to retain the tubing in the orientation of a circular, figure eight or similar closed loop hoop.

Another object of the invention involves the provision of means for forming a joint between tubing ends which can be quickly and easily installed in the tubing to complete the joint and whose resistance to failure is proportional in the range of normal use to the force tending to pull the tubing ends axially away from one another.

According to the present invention, the bore of at least one of the tubing sections to be j-oined frictionally receives a tubing clip comprising: a strip of stify resilient material having a portion adjacent at least one end thereof doubled back at a bend, toward the transverse centerline of the strip; and a short segment of said portion adjacent said end canted obliquely so that it forms an acute angle with the strip in the region of the strip adjacent the transverse centerline of the strip and between said bend and said centerline, and so that it projects further from said strip region in the thickness sense of the clip as said short segment proceeds toward said centerline; said strip in said region being offset in said thckness sense between `said centerline and said bend, the offset being accomplished by a procession of the orientation of the strip in said region rst substantially parallel to the doubled back portion, then obliquely toward the doubled back portion and then substantially parallel to the doubled back portion as said strip region proceeds from said centerline toward said bend. The strip beyond its centerline protrudes from the one tubing section bore for securement to the other tubing section.

These and further objects of the present invention will become more clearly apparent during the course of the following detailed discussion which relates primarily to the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the attached drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawing:

FIGURE l is a side elevation view of a tubing clip embodying principles of the present invention, the tubing clip being shown installed in resilient tubing to make up a butt joint. The tubing is shown in longitudinal vertical section to expose the tubing clip.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the tubing clip;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation view of one end of the tubing clip in an undeformed condition; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary side elevation view, similar to FIGURE 3 of the opposite end of the tubing clip.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The tubing clip 10 is preferably formed as a one piece structure from resilient metal sheet material such as steel. For various applications metals other than steel, for instance aluminum, and materials other than metal, for instance a molded polycarbonate or acrylic polymeric material can be used. When clips 10 are formed from sheet metal they are susceptible to being formed on automatic machinery either successively from short lengths cut from a narrow strip of indeterminent length, or simultaneously by bending a laterally broad sheet then severing the sheet into narrow strips.

Generally, the clip 10 includes a central portion 12 which is lowermost in the figures and planar when unstressed as seen in FIGURES 2-4. At the ends 14 and 16 of the portion 12 the clip bends upwardly through an angle of less than 90 degrees defining oblique planar portions 1S of much shorter extent than the portion 12 and which terminate at bends 20 located at about onethird to one-half of the distance between the upper and lower extent of the clip 10. At the bends 20, the clip bends downwardly through an angle approximately equal to the bends at 14 and 16, but in the opposite sense so that the clip again proceeds generally horizontally as seen in FIGURES 3-4 at 22. After proceeding axially away from each other by a distance equal about half the length of the central portion 12, each portion 22 terminates in an outwardly generally convex hairpin turn 24 about a substantially horizontal axis from which the clip emerges in two substantially horizontal portions 26, as seen in FIGURES 2-4, proceeding toward one another and toward the central portion 12 in an overlying, generally parallel relationship to the respective -portions 22. The portions 26 are vertically spaced from the respective portions 22 by an amount equal to about onethird to one-half of the distance between the upper and lower extent of the clip 10. At their opposite ends from the hairpin turns 24 the portions 26 terminate at transverse bends 28 which approximately overlie the transverse bends 20. Beyond each of the bends 28, the clip 10 dips downwardly then upwardly to define relatively short upwardly concave portions 30 and 32. As seen in FIG- URES l and 4, the portion 30 includes a first segment 34 which proceeds downwardly and toward the imaginary transverse centerline plane of the clip 10, a second segment 36 which proceeds in a generally horizontal direction from the first and a third segment 38 which proceeds upwardly and toward the imaginary transverse centerline plane of the clip 10. The end 40 of the clip at the terminus of the segment 38 is located slightly above the imaginary horizontal plane which includes the horizontal upper surfaces 42 of the portions 26 when unstressed as seen in FIGURE 4.

As seen in FIGURES 1 and 3 the portion 32 includes a first segment 44 which proceeds downwardly and toward the imaginary transverse centerline plane of the clip 10 and a second segment 46 which proceeds upwardly and toward the imaginary transverse centerline plane of the clip 10. The end 48 of the clip at the terminus of the segment 46 is also located slightly above the imaginary horizontal plane which includes the horizontal upper surfaces 42 of the portions 26 when unstressed as seen in FIGURE 3.

The vertical distance between either of the ends 40 and 48 and the surfaces 42 is preferably about 5-25 percent of the vertical distance between the surfaces 42 and the horizontal lower surface 50 of the portion 12 and the segments 38 and 46 preferably extend at about a 45 degree angle with respect to the horizontal as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4. It should be apparent that these conditions could be met by having both of the clip end portions 30, 32 configured like the portion 30 of FIGURE 4, or both like the portion 32 of FIGURE 3, or one or both be generally curved and upwardly concave.

The vertical distance between the surfaces 42 and 50 is preferably approximately equal to or slightly greater than, for intsance -25 percent greater than, the inside diameter of the tube or tubes in which the clip is to be placed.

Turning to FIGURE l, the tubing clip is assembled to tubing in order to make-up a butt joint by grasping the tubing clip, for instance at the points 40, 52 and guiding the convex nose 54 of the clip into the bore 56 of the flexible tube 58. The clip is slid into the bore until about the point the middle of the portion 12 is reached. Then, the convex nose 60 of the clip 10 is similarly guided into the bore 56 of the fiexible tube 58 until the end 62 'of the tube 58 abuts the end 62' of the tube 58. In actuality, the ends 62 and 62 may be the opposite ends of the same tube, whereby a closed loop hoop can be fabricated using the clip 10 of the present invention. In such instance the clip 10 should be oriented so the ends 40,48 are directed generally radially outwardly of the hoop a-nd the portion 12 radially inwardly of the hoop as illustrated in FIG- URE 1. In some instances, the material from which the clip 10 is made need not be of rectangular transverse cross sectional shape. In those instances it could be of square, circular, oval or other cross sectional shape, so long as the ends of the clip are not so rounded that they cannot sharply engage the inner peripheral walls of the tubing. In addition, the tubing need not be of resilient material throughout its entire transverse cross section since the present invention could be advantageously employed with substantially stiff tubing having a resilient coating on its inner peripheral walls.

These important features of the tubing clip according to the present invention should be recognized.

(l) Because the clip is greater in overall height than the inside diameter of the tubing, the clip is frictionally retained in the tubing.

(2) Because the portions 30, 32 overlie the portion 12 which is depressed with respect to the arms 66, 68 the former can move toward the latter through elastic deformation of the clip as the clip is inserted in the tubing, so that the clip resiliently engages each tube inner peripheral walls at diametrically spaced points along the walls.

(3) Because of the orientation of the clip portions 30, 32, they function similarly to the spurs or hackles of a bird of prey to increase the resistance of lhe joint to failure in proportion to an axial force attempting to pull the joint apart in the direction of the arrows 64 in FIG- URE l.

(4) Because of the vertical (or radical in the case of a hoop) displacement of the cantilevered arms 66, 68, carrying the hackles 30 and 32 from the central portion 12, a pull in the `direction of the arrows 64 causes the arms 66 and 68 to cock until the noses 54 and 60 engage the tubing inner peripheral walls at 70, 72. The Wedging resistance thus provided to tensile failure of the joint is similar to that of the straw in the game of children wherein a doubled over, bent straw is used to pick up a pop bottle.

(5) The clip 10, once installed, is not visible from the exterior of the joint and thus has no projections outwardly of the exterior peripheral walls of the tubing.

Not every feature need be present in every embodiment of the invention.

It should now be -apparent that the invention as described herein efficiently accomplishes each of the objects enumerated at the outset of this specification and that the embodiment described clearly illustrates the inventions principles. Because the embodiment could be considerably modified without departing from these principles or failing to accomplish these objects, the invention should be interpreted as encompassing all such modifications as are within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A tubing clip comprising: a strip of stifliy resilient material having a portion adjacent at least one end thereof doubled back at a bend, toward the transverse centerline of the strip; and a short segment of said portion adjacent said end canted obliquely so that it forms an acute with the strip in the region of the strip adjacent the transverse centerline of the strip and between said bend and said centerline, and so that it projects further from said strip region in the thickness sense of the clip as said short segment proceeds toward said centerline; said strip in said region being offset in said thickness sense between said centerline and said bend, the offset being accomplished by a procession of the orientation of the strip in said region first substantially parallel to the doubled back portion, then obliquely toward the doubled back portion and then substantially parallel to the doubled back portion as said strip region proceeds from said centerline toward said bend.

2. A tubing clip as defined in claim 1, further including: a second portion adjacent the opposite end of sai-d strip from said first end doubled back at a second bend toward the transverse centerline of the strip; and second a short segment of said second portion adjacent said opposite end canted obliquely so that it forms an acute angle with the strip in a second region of the strip adjacent the transverse centerline of the strip and between said second bend and said centerline, so that it projects further from said strip second region in the thickness sense of the clip as said second short segment proceeds toward said centerline.

3. A tubing clip as set forth in claim 2 wherein said strip in said second region is offset in said thickness sense between said centerline and said second bend, the offset being accomplished by a procession of the orientation of the strip in said second region first substantially parallel to the second doubled back portion, then obliquely toward the second doubled back portion and then substantially parallel to the second doubled back portion as said strip second region proceeds from said centerline toward said second bend.

4. A tubing clip as set forth in claim 2 wherein the first mentioned bend and said second bend are convex outwardly of one another whereby said clip is easily slidingly inserted in the bores of tubing.

5. A tubing clip as set forth in claim 2 wherein said stifiiy resilient material is steel.

6. A tubing butt joint comprising: a first section of tubing having an end and a bore surrounded by the inner peripheral wall of the first section of tubing; a second section of tubing having an end and a bore surrounded by the inner peripheral wall of the second section of tubing; and a tubing clip for holding said first and second tubing sections in abutment, said tubing clip comprising: a strip of stifily resilient material having a portion adjacent at least one end thereof doubled back, at a bend, toward the transverse centerline of the strip; and a short segment of said portion adjacent said end canted obliquely so that it forms an acute angle with the strip in the region of the strip adjacent the transverse centerline of the strip and between said bend and said centerline, and so that it projects further from said strip region in the thickness sense of the clip as said short segment proceeds toward said centerline; the distance in a thickness sense between said end and said centerline when said tubing clip is in an undeected condition being at least slightly greater than the diameter of the bore of said first section of tubing; the tubing clip being frictionally partly received in said bore of said first section of tubing, with said bend in first and said end being located within said bore of said rst section of tubing, whereby said tubing clip resiliently engages the inner peripheral wall of said first section of tubing; and means on said tubing clip being secured to said second section of tubing; said end of the first tubing section being substantially axially aligned with and adjacent said end of the second tubing section.

7. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 6 wherein the tubing clip strip in said region is offset in said thickness sense between said centerline and said bend, the offset being accomplished by a procession of the orientation of the strip in said region first substantially parallel to the `doubled back portion, then obliquely toward the doubled back portion and then substantially parallel to the doubled back portion as said strip regi-on proceeds from said centerline toward said bend; said tubing clipbeing received in the bore of each of said tubing sections up to about said centerline so that about half of said tubing clip is received in the bore of each of said tubing sections.

8. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 7 wherein the means on said tubing clip secured to said second section of tubing comprises: a second portion adjacent the opposite end of said strip from said first end doubled back, at a second bend toward the transverse centerline of the strip; and second a short segment of said second portion adjacent said opposite end canted obliquely so that it forms an acute angle with the strip in a second region of the strip adjacent the transverse centerline of the strip and between said second bend and said centerline, so that it projects further from said strip second region in the thickness sense of the clip as said second short segment proceed-s toward said centerline; the distance in a thickness sense between said second end and said centerline when said tubing clip is in an undeflected condition being at least slightly greater than the diameter of the bore of said second section of tubing; the tubing clip being frictionally received in said bore of said second section of tubing, with said second bend in first, and said second end being located within said bore of said second section of tubing, whereby said tubing clip resiliently engages the inner peripheral wall of said second section of tubing.

9. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 8 wherein the tubing clip strip in said second region is offset in said thickness sense between said centerline and said second bend, the offset being accomplished by a procession of the orientation of the strip in said second region first substantially parallel to the second doubled back portion, then obliquely toward the second doubled back portion and then substantially parallel to the second doubled back portion as said strip second region proceeds from said centerline toward said second bend.

10. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 8 wherein the tubing clip first mentioned bend and said second bend are convex outwardly of one another whereby said clip is easily slidingly inserted in the bores of tubing.

11. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 8 wherein the stiffly resilient material of which said tubing clip is composed is steel.

12. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 11 wherein at least the material defining the inner peripheral walls of said first and second sections of tubing is resilient plastic material.

13. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 11 wherein at least the material defining the inner peripheral walls of said first and second sections of tubing is elastomeric material.

14. A tubing butt joint as set forth in claim 8 wherein the first and second sections of tubing comprise the opposite end regions of `a single length of tubing, whereby said tubing and said tubing clip constitute a closed loop hoop.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,181,261 5/1965 Schwartz 46-161 CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner. W. L. SHEDD, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TUBING CLIP COMPRISING: A STRIP OF STIFFLY RESILIENT MATERIAL HAVING A PORTION ADJACENT AT LEAST ONE END THEREOF DOUBLED BACK AT A BEND, TOWARD THE TRANSVERSE CENTERLINE OF THE STRIP; AND A SHORT SEGMENT OF SAID PORTION ADJACENT SAID END CANTED OBLIQUELY SO THAT IT FORMS AN ACUTE WITH THE STRIP IN THE REGION OF THE STRIP ADJACENT THE TRANSVERSE CENTERLINE OF THE STRIP AND BETWEEN SAID BEND AND SAID CENTERLINE, AND SO THAT IT PROJECTS FURTHER FROM SAID STRIP REGION IN THE THICKNESS SENSE OF THE CLIP AS SAID SHORT SEGMENT PROCEEDS TOWARD SAID CENTERLINE; SAID STRIP IN SAID REGION BEING OFFSET IN SAID THICKNESS SENSE BETWEEN SAID CENTERLINE AND SAID BEND, THE OFFSET BEING ACCOMPLISHED BY A PROCESSION OF THE ORIENTATION OF THE STRIP IN SAID REGION FIRST SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE DOUBLED BACK PORTION, THEN OBLIQUELY TOWARD THE DOUBLED BACK PORTION AND THEN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE DOUBLED BACK PORTION AS SAID STRIP REGION PROCEEDS FROM SAID CENTERLINE TOWARD SAID BEND. 